Dairy awards winners excel
The major winners in the 2018 Canterbury-North Otago Dairy Industry Awards are relatively new to the dairy industry and believe their success is due to their full involvement in their business.
Daniel and Paula McAtamney were announced winners of the region’s share farmer of the year competition at the annual awards dinner held at the Addington Raceway and Events Centre.
The other big winners were Will Green, who was named dairy manager of the year, and Salem Christian, the dairy trainee of the year.
The McAtamney’s contract milk 1150 cows on a 300ha farm in Temuka.
They entered the awards to learn and challenge themselves.
‘‘The competition process has allowed us to analyse our system and encourage our drive for the future,’’ they said.
Before starting his dairying career, Daniel was a beef, sheep and deer farmer, while Paula was nursing.
They both entered the dairy industry in 2014.
‘‘We are proud of what we have learnt and achieved, given the short time we have been in the industry,’’ Paula said.
‘‘We both grew up on farms and love working with animals, being outdoors and just being on the land.’’
The couple saw their strong partnership as a strength of their business.
‘‘We are both fully involved in the business, both on-and-off farm,’’ Daniel said.
‘‘We bring a wide and varied skill set to our business which allows consistency, high-quality workmanship and top performance.’’
Future farming goals included farm ownership.
‘‘We enjoy learning and challenging ourselves,’’ Paula said.
Runner-up in the went to Luke Doyle who contract milks on a 750-cow, 198ha property in Geraldine.
Originally from the Manawatu, Doyle began relief milking before and after school and entered the dairy industry upon leaving school at 15.
‘‘I have always wanted to dairy farm since primary school,’’ he said.
‘‘I like the life-style of dairy farming and that it is very familyorientated.’’
He saw his financial budgeting skills as a strength in the business.
‘‘I feel I’m good at sticking to the budgets that I set for myself.
‘‘I had a tight budget for the first two seasons and learnt to be creative to get through deficit.
‘‘I quickly learnt the importance of a good team.’’
Doyle credited his team as a solid foundation of the business.
‘‘We work well together to achieve the goals we have set.’’
Future farming goals included contract milking a more extensive or second dairy farm, and an equity partnership or 50:50 sharemilking role.
Third place went to Glenn Jones and Sarah Brett, who said the feedback from the award judges and other rural professionals had been hugely beneficial.
‘‘As first-year sharemilkers, it was a fantastic opportunity to analyse and familiarise ourselves with every aspect of our business, and plan for the future,’’ Glenn said.
The couple were 50:50 sharemilkers at Darfield, where they milked 650 cows.
The couple saw their combined skill set as one of their strengths.
‘‘Sarah is in-charge of the administration side; accounts, payroll, human resources and health and safety.
‘‘While I am hands-on with the cows, grass and people,’’ said Glenn.
‘‘We’ve built a sustainable business model which has high staff retention and positive team culture, great pasture utilisation and an excellent herd of cows.’’
The winner of the dairy manager of the year competition spent three years working on his family’s dairy, beef, sheep and cropping farm in the UK.
He entered the New Zealand dairy industry three years ago.
William Green was the farm manager on a 240ha, 830-cow farm at Fairlie.
‘‘The awards process has enabled me to benchmark myself against the best in the industry,’’ he said
Green held a degree in agriculture from Harper Adams University and believed pasture utilisation was a strength of his business.
‘‘We walk weekly as a whole team and focus on consistent 1500 residuals,’’ he said.
‘‘We stick to a strict feed budget and rotation length planner in the spring and autumn.’’
Green aimed to continue to progress through the dairy industry with farm ownership the ultimate goal.
‘‘Dairy farming is a great tool to build capital to make your dreams come true.’’